Forbes’ World’s Billionaires List is out. Kentucky remains home to one of them
Forbes is out with its annual look at the world’s richest people, and once again, the billionaire class is doing very well, growing its total wealth to more than $16 trillion in 2025. That’s nearly $2 trillion more than in 2024.
When it first started keeping track in 1987, Forbes counted just 140 billionaires that year. By 2017, their numbers had risen to 2,000, and in the eight years since, there are now more than 3,000. As Forbes notes, not only are there more of them, but they’re richer than ever.
The U.S. has more than 900 billionaires, and at least one Kentucky resident is among their ranks. Tamara Gustavson, the multi-billionaire business executive and horse breeder. She owns Lexington’s Spendthrift Farm, home to 10 Kentucky Derby winners.
On this year’s list, Forbes puts Gustavson’s net worth at $8.5 billion. For context, if one were to spend $1 every second, it would take about 269 years to spend that amount of money. That’s an increase from around the same time last year, when Forbes put her net worth north of $7 billion.
That makes Gustavson the 353rd richest person in the world, according to Forbes.
Who is Tamara Gustavson?
Gustavson’s fortune comes from the self-storage industry. She holds a major stake in Public Storage, the company of her late father, business titan B. Wayne Hughes. Hughes passed away in 2021.
Today, Gustavson is the largest shareholder of Public Storage, with Forbes reporting she owns about 10% of the company.
Gustavson began working at the company in 1983 and did so for 20 years. She’s listed as a member of the company’s board of trustees, according to its website. Forbes reports she’s sat on the board since 2008.
According to Forbes, Gustavson’s net worth is as high as it’s been since 2022, when it also peaked at $8.5 billion. Her net worth truly took off between 2020 and 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic exploded the demand for self-storage as more people began working from home offices and needed to reconfigure their living spaces. Between 2020 and 2022, Gustavson’s net worth grew by $4 billion, according to Forbes.
Gustavson is also notable as a prominent horse breeder. She owns Spendthrift Farm with her family.
The farm takes its name from the horse Spendthrift. Born in 1876 in Lexington, Spendthrift is the great-grandsire of the legendary horse Man-O-War, widely regarded to be one of the greatest racehorses of all time.
As of 2025, the farm was listed as having a fair cash value of $9,973,300, according to Fayette County Property Valuation Administrator records.
Who are the world’s richest people?
Of the top 10 richest people on the planet, eight are from the U.S. According to Forbes, the individuals and their net worths include:
Elon Musk - $342 billion
Mark Zuckerberg - $216 billion
Jeff Bezos - $215 billion
Larry Ellison - $192 billion
Bernard Arnault and family - $178 billion
Warren Buffett - $154 billion
Larry Page - $144 billion
Sergey Brin - $138 billion
Amancio Ortega - $124 billion
Steve Ballmer - $118 billion
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